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Andromeda: Under the Night
| next = "An Affirming Flame" }} "Under the Night" is the pilot episode of the science fiction television series Andromeda. The episode was directed by Allan Kroeker and written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe. It first aired in the United States on the Sci-Fi Channel on Monday, October 2nd, 2000. It was first broadcast in Canada on Saturday, October 7th, 2000 on the Global Television Network. The series features the heroic Dylan Hunt, captain of the Systems Commonwealth flagship, the starship Andromeda Ascendant. After barely surviving a sneak attack from the genetically evolved Nietzscheans, Dylan finds himself frozen in time at the event horizon of a black hole for more than three-hundred years. When he awakens, he finds that the world he once knew is gone and now must try to survive in a universe where the Systems Commonwealth no longer exists. First however, he needs to settle the matter of a group of intruders who decide to lay claim to the Andromeda. Synopsis Dylan Hunt is the captain of the starship Andromeda Ascendant - a High Guard ship of the line of the Systems Commonwealth. Dylan and his first officer, the Nietzschean known as Gaheris Rhade run an emergency response drill. The ship's crew members rush about the vessel, manning their stations and taking appropriate measures. Although their response time is satisfactory, it is not exemplary. Suddenly, the ship's onboard A.I. computer, "Rommie" reports a distress call hailing from the Hephaistos System - a Nietzschean controlled area of space. The distress call concerns a rogue black hole that is threatening to consume the Nietzschean fleet. The Andromeda goes to the system, but when they arrive, the fleet opens fire on them. It's a trap. The Andromeda returns fire, but even though it is a powerful ship, it has no chance against an entire fleet. As the attackers are Nietzschean, Commander Rhade asks to be restricted to the brig to avoid a conflict of interests. Dylan is reluctant to be without his first officer, but concedes to Rhade's wisdom on the matter and has him escorted off the bridge. In addition to the danger posed by the Nietzscheans, there is also the added danger of the black hole itself and the Andromeda finds itself being drawn in by its gravitational pull. Hunt then orders the rest of the crew to evacuate the ship. The Andromeda' s pilot, the insectoid Refractions of Dawn, refuses to abandon her post, telling Dylan that he will need a good pilot if he hopes to stand a chance against the Nietzscheans. In the lower decks, Gaheris Rhade shows his true colors. Using the sharpened bone growths on his forearms, he kills his security escorts then makes his way back to the bridge. As he enters, he uses his Force lance to shoot Reflections of Dawn in the chest, killing her. Dylan is utterly taken aback by this sudden betrayal and the two officers leap about the bridge exchanging fire. Dylan wants to know why Rhade and the other Nietzscheans betrayed him. Rhade tells him that the Nietzscheans have been planning this attack against the Commonwealth for years - ever since the Treaty of Antares, where the Commonwealth made peace with the savage, flesh-eating Magog. The Nietzscheans saw the treaty as a sign of weakness on the part of the Commonwealth and decided to turn against them. Dylan and Rhade continue to fight one another as the Andromeda slips closer to the singularity. They begin suffering from a time dilation effect and their movements become slower. Dylan finally gets the kill shot, but as he looks down at Rhade's body, everything freezes. ]] Three hundred years later, a Nightsider named Gerentex hires the salvage ship Eureka Maru to go to the Hephaistos System in search of the legendary missing High Guard ship. The crew of the Eureka Maru consists of Captain Beka Valentine, Seamus Harper, Trance Gemini and the Magog Wayist Rev Bem. They reach the singularity and bring up a visual of the Andromeda on their sensors. The Eureka Maru however, is too heavy to risk getting any closer to the black hole's gravity well and Beka tells them that they need to lose some weight. To compensate, they need to detach the cargo pod from the ship. Before doing so however, Gerentex excuses himself and goes into the cargo bay to make some adjustments to his property before it is shunted into outer space. Beka then fires Bucky cables towards the singularity, ensnaring the Andromeda Ascendant. The task is difficult, but she manages to pull the much larger ship out of the black hole. Once it is free, the time dilation effect stops and Dylan returns to normal. The ship's A.I. comes on and Rommie tells Dylan that they have been frozen for 300 years. As Beka and her grew board the Andromeda, Rommie tells Dylan that there are intruders on board. Donning his battle fatigues, he takes his Force lance and begins hunting for them throughout the ship. The first one he comes upon is the engineer Seamus Harper. He trips him up with his lance and pins him to the ground. Seamus is shocked to see someone alive and well on board the ship, much less it's captain. When Dylan identifies himself as a captain of the High Guard of the Systems Commonwealth, Seamus is burdened with telling him a grim truth - that the Commonwealth no longer exists. They lost the battle at Hephaistos and the Commonwealth fell apart soon after, giving rise to an era referred to as the Long Night. Dylan is taken aback when he hears this and blames his own failure at Hephaistos for the fall of the Commonwealth. Dylan then issues a ship-wide alert. He commands the intruders to leave the ship immediately or else he will take it by force. Although Gerentex had no reason to suspect that there were people already aboard the Andromeda, he believes in always being prepared. He returns to the cargo bay and awakens a team of mercenaries he had hired in case things grew violent. The leader of the mercenary team is a muscular Nietzschean named Tyr Anasazi. The mercenaries march across the corridor and board the Andromeda. Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * The premise of this series harkens back to Gene Roddenberry's 1973 film Genesis II, in which the main character, also named Dylan Hunt, was a NASA scientist working on a project concerning suspended animation. An accident hurls Hunt forward through time from the year 1979 to the year 2133, in which he discovers that Earth has become a post-apocalyptic environment. Roddenberry intended to expand the concept for the movie into a television series, but the project was never realized. Instead, the CBS network opted to broadcast the live-action Planet of the Apes television series. Over twenty-five years later, the story concepts behind Genesis II were retooled and became Andromeda. Roddenberry had passed away in 1991, long before the series was put into production, but his vision came to life through the efforts of his widow Majel Barrett-Roddenberry and story developer Robert Hewitt Wolfe. * First in a two-part episode. * Production code number 103. * The events from this episode take place in the year CY 10087. * First episode; first appearance of all characters, locations and races. * Kevin Sorbo, Lisa Ryder, Lexa Doig, Gordon Michael Woolvett, Laura Bertram and Steve Bacic are the only actors to appear in both the pilot episode and the series finale, "The Heart of the Journey". Bacic however, played two different characters. In the pilot, he played Gaheris Rhade. In the finale, he played the character's genetic descendent Telemachus Rhade. TV.com; "Under the Night"; Notes * This episode marks the television debut of actress Yvonne Myers. Opening quotation Allusions * The Nietzscheans derive their name from Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th century German philosopher and classical philologist. Nietzsche posited the existential belief in the Death of God and expounded his views on the rise of the Übermensch - the ultimate perfection of man. As beings who are genetically evolved to the point of total perfection, the Nietzscheans aspire to be living examples of Nietzche's beliefs. * As a native of the planet Earth, Seamus Harper knows the most about Earth culture. When fantasizing about the various things that one might buy with their pending wealth, Seamus moons over the idea of owning a Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson is a popular American manufacturer of motorcycles. * Trance and Seamus have a discussion concerning Trance's late predecessor Vexpag. Trance mistakenly believes that he had "bought a farm" until Seamus corrects her by saying that he "bought the farm". This is an Earth-based phrase, which refers to someone who has bought a cemetery plot, or farm, for themselves. To say that someone has "bought the farm" means that they are deceased. * When describing Dylan Hunt to Beka and Trance, Seamus compares him to a Greek god. Kevin Sorbo, who plays Captain Hunt, is also popularly known for playing the character Hercules on Sam Raimi's fantasy/adventure series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. * In one scene, Harper whistles into an intercom. The whistle is the same as that of the intercom tones featured in the Star Trek franchise. This is a nod to Gene Roddenberry, the creator of both series. Home Video * "Under the Night" has been made available on the following DVD collections: :* Andromeda: Slipstream Collection :* Andromeda: The Complete Boxset :* Andromeda: The Complete First Season :* Andromeda: Season 1 Collection :* Andromeda: Season 1, Collection 1 See also Keywords 1st Lieutenant; Acomba One; Alacritous Missive; Andromeda; Andromeda Ascendant; Anti-gravity technology; Avatar; Battle of Hephaistos; Beka Valentine; Black Hole; Brandenburg Tor; Brexos; Bucky cables; Captain; Cryogenic suspension; CY 10087; Cyborg; Dylan Hunt; Escape pod; Eureka Maru; Event horizon; Exoskeleton; Extraterrestrial; Force Lance; Friedrich Nietzsche; FTL travel; Gaheris Rhade; Gerentex; Gunnery Sergeant; Gynoid; Hephaistos; Hephaistos IV; Hephaistos black hole; Hephaistos System; High Guard; Hologram; Insectoid; Kingfisher; Long Night; Magog; Mercenary; Nietzschean Empire; Nietzscheans; Nightsider; People of the Way; Pilot; Refractions of Dawn; Rev Bem; Robot; Rommie; Seamus Harper; Slipstream; Space travel; Space vessel; Spacetime compression; Suspended animation; Systems Commonwealth; Than-Thre-Kull; Thompson; Time travel; Treaty of Antares; Triangulum Measles; Tyr Anasazi; Varastaya; Vexpag; Weapons Officer External Links * * * * * * References ---- Category:2000/Episodes Category:October, 2000/Episodes Category:Episodes with plot summaries